Surviving South Africa: January 2007

Library Donations

Hey all....so my grant was approved for funding for my library. If you're interested in donating here's the web address and information about the project. Thanks so much :)

http://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.projdetail&projdesc=674-026

Library
LocationSOUTH AFRICA
Volunteer Coordinator(s)C. Burkholder of CA
Funds Needed$1,309.00
Original Request$1,309.00
Project Number674-026
Community Contribution$464.00 (26%)

Recently Matshwi Primary School has received four new classroom blocks from the Department of Education. They have decided that they want to use one of their new classrooms to create a library. The school, though highly populous, is without basic learning tools, such as books, in which to encourage higher learning. The teachers are excited about their students having access to literature and have been impressed with how much their students enjoy being read to.

Currently the school has been in the process of collecting books from both South African and American organizations. To date, it has obtained over 600 books with more expected to arrive shortly. In addition, it has created a library committee which is responsible for these books and for creating library times for individual classes. Some of the older students have begun borrowing books on a regular basis. For the school it would be beneficial to allow all students easy access to the books which is currently not possible due to the fact that the books are contained in boxes and not organized in any meaningful way.

Matshwi Primary School has been in the process of performing various school fundraising activities in order to build shelves and tables for the library, buy rugs and buy a desk for the librarian as well as chairs for the students. So far, they have successfully raised 620 rand but it has been as very slow process to raise funds in such a poor area while the books sit, for the most part, unused in boxes. Thus they are requesting funds to get the library up and running so students can benefit immediately from the literature and teachers can be trained thoroughly in the use and upkeep of a library before the end of Peace Corps Volunteers service.

Matshwi Primary School now request Partners assistance in the construction of shelves and tables as well as the purchasing of materials to complete the library.

Contribute to this project!

These project summaries are written by Peace Corps volunteers and their host communities.

A Letter from America

This week I received a letter from a friend in the states. Recently she had spent some time in Tanzania doing volunteer work in the agriculture sector. Thus, I enjoy hearing from her because she’s a remembrance of my former life who can relate to my experiences here.

One of the things that struck me so vividly in her letter was her comments on coming to love her rural placement despite her suburban upbringing. Somehow that hit a chord in me. Regardless of all that I miss in America I do have a deep appreciation for my surroundings here. I have come to know the details of this place: details that didn’t exist, or I was too preoccupied to notice, at home.

There are so many things I love about my village which I’ll never have when I return to America. I love the sound that the rain makes on the tin roof- a ballad emulating renewal of freshness and life; a show from nature that drowns out everything modern. In such a storm there is no hope of using a radio or watching television; nature’s reclamation of the earth.

I love my runs, in the bush, surrounded by people’s livestock. I feel reverence for how the sun sets over the dam- mirroring the mountains- its fading light in beat with my fading energy. The water rippled by fishing birds; occasionally a heron wades on long legs in the shallows. Here I can be truly alone and untroubled with my thoughts as my muscles propel me down the dirt path and fatigue gradually creeps into my body. I’m free to review my day or make up tales of my future without the interruption of traffic and congestion. The only noises: the chattering of children, the tête-à-tête of animals, and the reverberation of the wind.

I adore being able to recognize seasonal changes here: how long the sun stays above the horizon, it’s changing position as it sets in accordance with the time of year. How, now, the mangos are ripe on the trees and tadpoles grace puddles with their scurrying. How green everything is: a salad of emeralds, jades, olives, and lime. The dam has risen, yet somewhere hidden just beneath the surface small islands and peninsulas plot their comebacks for the drier season. In just a few weeks the maize will begin to ripen in the garden and the food intake of the community will change.

People here take life in stride; the early morning will be spent tending the garden and later neighbors and families will gather under the shade of trees as the sun fries the earth. Here they will gossip and laugh: complain of their suffering in the heat, and each person that passes the yard will be greeted.

I always figured myself as a city person. I’m starting to have my doubts…

HIV/AIDS Project

Over my holiday break, while I was lounging on the beach in Mozambique, I met a number of volunteers from other regions of Southern Africa. I recently received an email from one of them, Jerry, who is working on a HIV/AIDS project in his village. I thought I would post his message to see if anyone out there is interested in helping out.

Dumela!
Greetings from Botswana, Africa. My name is Jerry Knight and I am a PeaceCorps volunteer stationed in Seronga, a small village in the Okavango Delta. I work in the PMTCT program (prevention of mother to child transmission) and HIV education within the school. Our school is creating "Seronga HIV/AIDS day" on Monday, March 5, 2007. Part of our celebration is to have a poster display about HIV/AIDS from posters from all over the world. We are asking people from different countries to create a poster to join our celebration. Our village does not have electricity, so the children do not even have television to give them a glimpse of the outside world. I am hoping that this project will encourage the children to look beyond our village, that there is a whole world out there for them.

If you are willing to create a poster about HIV/AIDS, we will proudly display it as part of our celebration. The poster can be anything you desire. If you would be willing to write a small note about where you are from, that would be highly appreciated as well.

Mailing is a long process here (it can take up to a month), so we are asking that the poster is mailed by the end of January. Please don't forget to write "airmail" on the package. Please let me know if you require reimbursement for mailing costs. You can mail it to:

Jerry Knight
c/o OCT
box 5
Sarong, Botswana, Africa

Again, this will be the first contact for the children outside Botswana, and they are extremely excited. Words can not express how grateful I am for helping us with this project. Thank you!

First Day of School

Khutso on his first day of grade 3

Khutso and friends playing legos which my Aunt Joni sent....I swear the kid does nothing else now. The family has started calling him "the architect."

My host father with our neighbor's baby.

Today is the kids’ first day back at school. I found Khutso alone and crying this morning. It kills me that no one takes care of that kid: that no one could get up long enough to make sure he was clothed, given breakfast, and had supplies. I did the best I could: gave him a pencil and piece of banana bread but if further emphasized to me how much I hate the family for not even pretending to care.